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Preserving Britain's Heritage

By SARAH LYALL;

Published: May 28, 1995

THE fire that swept through the magnificent 17th-century house of Uppark in the summer of 1989 gutted whole wings, destroyed or badly damaged many of Uppark's priceless possessions, and left the house smoldering and close to ruin. The question was, what to do next?

For the National Trust, which had owned Uppark since 1954, the answer was simple. The organization, a private charity that began humbly and is now one of the most powerful institutions in Britain, decided to restore the house to its exact condition on the day before the fire. Among other things, that meant hiring dozens of highly specialized craftsmen and women to painstakingly recreate the originals, from the 1800 hand-knotted English Axminster carpet in a ground-floor drawing room, to the delicately crafted wrought-iron sconces in the saloon, to the red silk damask curtains in the small parlor.

Six years and $32,000,000, later, calculated at $1.6 to the pound (the house was covered by fire insurance), the restoration is finished, and the trust is marking the reopening of Uppark on June 1 as one of the high points in a year of celebration to commemorate the organization's own 100th anniversary. Events include lectures, special tours, openings, concerts and an exhibition at the National Gallery of the trust's incomparable art collection, all providing a basis for examining the trust's past and looking toward its future.

The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty was founded in 1895 by a trio of social reformers who were concerned about the effect of industrial development on the English countryside (in the words of Octavia Hill, one of the three, the goal was to provide "open-air sitting-rooms for the poor"). Soon afterward, it acquired its first property, a gift of four and a half acres of cliffs at Dinas Oleu, North Wales; it then bought its first house, a 14th-century wood-framed clergyman's cottage in Alfriston, East Sussex, for just $16 at today's exchange rate.

One hundred years later, the trust has grown to become the largest private property holder in England, Northern Ireland and Wales, second only to the Government itself. (Scotland has its own, separate National Trust.) It owns 207 historic houses and their contents, including 8,000 oil paintings (some on loan), 100,000 drawings, watercolors, prints and engravings, 1,000 pieces of scuplture and more than 1 million books. It owns more than 590,000 acres of open countryside, including woodlands, fens and heaths; 1,000 archeological sites; 26 national reserves; 39 pubs, all or part of 60 villages and more than 550 miles, or 17 percent, of the country's coastline.

And though it styles itself a private charity, whose $220,128,000 annual income comes mostly from members' dues, admission fees, donations and revenues from businesses like tea and gift shops and rental cottages, the trust has extraordinary quasi-governmental powers. In 1907 an act of Parliament granted it the right to declare its property "inalienable," meaning it could never be sold, mortgaged or taken over by the Government against the trust's wishes, without parliamentary approval.

Thirty years later, Parliament passed the National Trust Act, a signal piece of legislation that allowed owners of historic houses that meet trust criteria to donate their homes, contents included, to the organization in lieu of inheritance taxes. The trust would then take on the responsibility of maintaining a donated house in perpetuity. As an extra incentive to the landed aristocracy, the trust devised its "country houses scheme," which gave donors and their families the right to continue living in their houses (as the Meade-Fetherstonhaugh family does at Uppark) even as the public was allowed access at specific times.

The program has faithfully preserved dozens of grand country houses that would otherwise have been sold, possibly for development, or abandoned and allowed to fall into disrepair. These include the early-17th-century Blickling Hall in Norfolk, famous for its topiary hedges and the 123-foot-long Jacobean plaster ceiling in its gallery; Petworth House in West Sussex, a late-17th-century near-palace that boasts paintings by Turner and Van Dyck and a landscape designed by Lancelot (Capability) Brown that includes a deer park; and Cragside House in Northumberland, a Victorian mansion thought to be the first house in the world to be illuminated by hydroelectricity and full of the inventions and improvements of its original owner, the first Lord Armstrong.

Trust officials proudly note that millions of people visit these houses each year, as well as the 162 magnificent trust-maintained gardens like Sissinghurst near Cranbrook, Kent; Mount Stewart in County Down, Northern Ireland; and Stourhead, an 18th-century Arcadian landscape in Wiltshire. But popular as it is with the public, the country-houses plan has also drawn much of the criticism that has been directed at the trust lately.

Last year an American journalist, Paula Weideger, published "Gilding the Acorn," a book that was highly critical of the trust (whose symbol is an acorn) for perpetuating "fantasy and nostalgia about a vanished way of life." And Stephen Bayley, a British author and design consultant, produced a television program that lodged similar complaints.

"If you were born in Britain after World War II, you see a continuous atmosphere of decline, moral and economic and political," Mr. Bayley said in an interview. "It's understandable that we take refuge in the past, where we see fixed values and prestige. But I believe it has a retarding effect on the national psyche. While there is a great value in things that are old, it seems that the overwhelming challenge in Britain in the late 20th century is to make every effort to see value in the contemporary and in the future."

But Martin D. Drury, the trust's director general-designate, said that the organization was indeed looking to the future -- by investing in buildings in urban centers; by starting new educational programs, particularly in inner cities, and by continuing its aggressive policy of acquiring threatened sections of countryside and coastline, to name a few programs.

"The fact is that going somewhere in the car and stopping someplace where you can look at a building and have tea is very popular in England," Mr. Drury said. "But any organization that is successful must not become complacent, and not lean too much on its traditional support. It is true that our support has traditionally come from the middle class, and what I see us having to do is remember the strong social purpose for which we were founded."

AS it plans, Mr. Drury said, the trust is most concerned about broadening its membership, currently steady at about 2.2 million members (including more than 30,000 Americans), and continuing to be a force in environmental conservation in Britain. And he said that since the trust had always worked to adjust its policies to the needs of the particular time, it was important to take the long view of its role in British life, as the children's author Beatrix Potter did years ago.

Potter, who had strong views about conservation, donated swaths of land in the Lake District to the National Trust, continuing to live there even as a trust administrator moved in. She didn't much like him, as she noted in a letter to a friend that was recently unearthed by the trust. "The National Trust is a fine and noble thing and, humanly speaking, immortal," she wrote. "There are some stupid mortals associated with it, but they will pass." The places, dates and prices The Highlights

Hundreds of centenary events are scheduled for this year. Open-air concerts, lectures, fetes, outdoor opera, craft fairs, flower shows and exhibitions will take place at National Trust sites countrywide. Many are already fully booked. Here are a few highlights:

A series of six lectures on aspects of the national heritage will be given in London between Sept. 12 and Dec. 5 at the Royal Horticultural Society, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Royal Institute of British Architects, the National Portrait Gallery, the National Gallery and the Science Museum.

About 100 paintings from National Trust houses will be exhibited at the National Gallery from Nov. 22 to March 10, 1996. Titian, Velazquez and Turner are among the artists included.

A Fete Champetre will be held on July 7, 8 and 9 at West Wycombe Park in Buckinghamshire.

Two free leaflets, Centenary Activities and Centenary Events, are available from the Royal Oak Foundation, the National Trust's American membership affiliate. Annual membership is $40, $65 for families. Members receive free admission to National Trust sites and properties, the National Trust Handbook and other benefits. The foundation is at 285 West Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10013; (212) 966-6565 or (800) 913-6565 outside New York City. Recent Restorations

Uppark House, which opens in its restored state June 1, will have an exhibition using video to describe the restoration of the 17th-century mansion. Admission by timed ticket to the house, garden and exhibition is $8, children $4, calculated at $1.60 to the pound. Open Sunday to Thursday from June 1 to Oct. 31. House open 1 to 5:30 P.M. Parking, garden, exhibition and woodland walk open noon to 5:30 P.M. South Harting, Petersfield, Hampshire GU31 5QR; (1730) 825857, reservations (1730) 825317. The dialing code for England is 44.

Petworth House and park are 15 miles from Uppark. This year visitors can see the refurbished kitchens and kitchen technology developed over 200 years. There are 1,096 kitchen utensils. The service areas, in an annex, are larger than the state rooms. Only the kitchen, scullery and pastry rooms are open; another 16 rooms are being renovated. Open April 1 to Oct. 31 daily except Monday and Friday (open on public holiday Mondays and Fridays) from 1 to 5:30 P.M. Admission $6.40, children $3.20. Petworth House, Petworth, West Sussex GU28 OAE; (1798) 342207.

Waddesdon Manor is a Renaissance-style chateau built by Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild in the 1880's as a showcase for his collection of 18th-century decorative art. A five-year conservation and restoration program was completed this year. Open Thursday to Saturday from April 6 to Oct. 15, 1 to 6 P.M., Sundays and holidays from 11 A.M. to 6 P.M. Entry to the house (children under 5 not admitted) is by timed tickets, which go on sale each morning. Admission to house and garden $12.80, children $10.40. Garden open March 1 to Dec. 22 from 11 A.M. to 6 P.M.; admission $4.80, children $2.40. Waddesdon Manor, Near Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire HP18 OJH; (1296) 651282.

Orford Ness, five miles of shingle off the Suffolk coast, will be opened for the first time June 8. Its habitats include mud flats, a salt marsh and a shingle beach, as well as rich bird life. Access is by ferry from Orford Quay, and reservations must be made; 96 visitors a day will be allowed. The ferry leaves every half hour from 10 A.M. to 1:30 P.M. Admission $4.80 for National Trust members, $8 for nonmembers. Visits can be booked a month ahead by writing to Orford Ness Ferry, Walnut Tree Cottage, Orford, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 2NF, giving first and second choices of day and time. Old Stalwarts

Chartwell, in Westerham, Kent, was the home of Sir Winston Churchill from 1924 until he died in 1965. Two rooms contain his personal mementos, his many gifts and uniforms. Terraced gardens lead to a lake, and a studio in the garden contains many of his paintings. Open from April 1 to Oct. 31 from 11 A.M. to 5:30 P.M. Closed Monday (except public holiday Mondays) and Friday. (The National Trust handbook fails to mention that Chartwell is closed Friday.) In March and November the house only is open Saturday, Sunday and Wednesday from 11 A.M. to 4:30 P.M. Admission to the house and garden is $7.20, garden only $3.20, studio 80 cents. In March and November admission to the house only is $4. More information: (1732) 866368.

Cragside House is open from 1 to 5:30 P.M. to Oct. 31 daily except Monday (open on public holiday Mondays). The grounds are open daily except Monday from 10:30 A.M. to 7 P.M. and from Nov. 4 to Dec. 17 on Tuesday, Saturday and Sunday from 10:30 A.M. to 4 P.M. The garden is open until Oct. 31 from 10:30 A.M. to 5:30 P.M. daily except Monday. Admission to house, garden, grounds and visitor center is $8.80; to garden, grounds and visitor center only $5.60. Cragside House, Garden and Grounds, Rothbury, Morpeth, Northumberland NE65 7PX; (1669) 620333.

Mount Stewart House, which has seven formal gardens and two wooded gardens, is open from May to Sept. 30 daily except Tuesday from 1 to 6 P.M.; in October on Saturday and Sunday only from 1 to 6 P.M. The garden is open until Sept. 30 daily from 10:30 A.M. to 6 P.M.; in October on Saturday and Sunday only from 10:30 A.M. to 6 P.M. Temple of the Winds closed for repair this year. Admission to house and garden is $5.30, garden only $4.30. Newtownwards, County Down, Northern Ireland BT22 2AD; (44 12477) 88387 or 88487. PAMELA KENT